Should I Have A Facebook Business Page?

I’ve helped all kinds of businesses with their web presence, including their facebook presence. While many of my clients already have facebook business pages set up, many business owners don’t see the value in a facebook business page or rely on their personal facebook account to promote their business. For business owners with a personal facebook account but no facebook business page, the question remains:

Should I have a facebook business page or just use my existing personal profile to promote my business?

This person had many facebook friends through his personal account and worried that a business page would be less visible and engaging. This is a consideration, sure, but the big question your should be asking yourself is

How does it make sense to integrate social media in my brand or business?

To guide you in answering this question, see my recent blog entry: Social Networking for Your Business – Finding Your Style.
If you are trying to decide whether to create and promote a facebook business page, here are some differences between a facebook personal page and a business page. Personally, I think creating a business page is a good practice, especially if you already promote your business on facebook.

Facebook Business Page vs. Facebook Personal Profile:

1. Pages give you access to insights

Facebook insights for pages gives you data about your pages in including when it was visited, the reach of your pages posts, the history of “likes” on your page, and how people engage with your page and posts.

3. Pages are indexed, so they can show up in search engine results.

4. Pages have tabs so you can create a complete business presence

You can use tabs for things like opt-in forms, maps and directions, contact information, and company history

5. You can use Facebook Offers and advertising with pages

Facebook Offers is an official way to promote deals to your Facebook fans. You can also pay for advertising spots for your page.

6. You can let others manage your page.

Facebook page administrators can create admin roles for others to help manage the page. Roles include insight analyst, advertiser, moderator, content creator, and manager. This is especially useful if you plan to hire third-parties to help manage your web presence.

7. Pages allows check-ins for Places

Pages connected to a Place allow people to check-in on facebook when they visit your physical location. This shows up in there feed and provides free advertising for you.

8. Pages allow cross-business promotion by allowing you to showcase other pages you like

9. Facebook has scheduling built-in for pages

There are third-party services that allow you to schedule posts for personal pages and business pages. Facebook includes this feature “in-house” for pages only.

10. Pages help you keep your personal life private

You can set up access restrictions for your personal page to separate what goes out to personal friends and family and what goes out to your clients and customers, but it is much simpler to keep a personal profile for personal posts and a business page for business posts.

11. There are different third party tools for pages and personal profiles

Many tools set up for pages are meant to help businesses.

12. By setting up a personal profile for your business, you do run the risk of being shut down.

13. Pages let you engage as your brand

When others see posts and comments from your business page, your business or brand name will appear instead of your first and last name.